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45 Award-Winning Aerial And Underwater Nature Photographs
Humans have always been a bit obsessed with the places we don’t belong. The sky was off-limits until we built machines to borrow it, and the underwater world still treats us like temporary visitors at best. Yet those are the two environments we keep trying to photograph anyway, because when you finally get a clean frame from up there or down there, it doesn’t just look beautiful. It looks impossible in the best way.
And after we recently featured the Exposure One Awards’ Black & White Nature Photography winners in the Animals category, we’re now diving into two more categories of their contest: Aerial and Underwater.
Let us know in the comments which of these stunning photos you enjoyed the most, and you can explore more submissions across the contest categories on Exposure One’s website and Instagram.
More info: Instagram | exposureoneawards.com | Facebook
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#1
“Flight Lines” By Holly Kirkland
Description: Photographed above Lake Magadi, flamingos lift off, their bodies forming loose diagonals across dark water. In flight, the flock becomes a study in rhythm—wings catching light in brief, alternating intervals crossing the frame. Movement becomes pattern, rendered in stark contrast from the air. Gold Award in the Aerial Category at the Professional level. Honorable Mention in the Patterns & Forms Category at the Professional level.
Aerial photography turns the planet into a pattern. From above, coastlines become brushstrokes, forests turn into texture, and human-made geometry starts to look oddly fragile against the scale of the landscape.
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#2
“On Approach” By Ronja Arnold
Honorable Mention in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#3
“Méduse” By Patrick Desormais
Honorable Mention in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
Repetition, fractures, symmetry, erosion, the random logic of rivers and roads. It can be beautiful in the obvious way, but it can also be unsettling, because distance has a way of making everything feel both clean and indifferent.
#4
“Calligraphy” By Holly Kirkland
Description: A flock of flamingos skims the surface of Lake Natron, pulling ribbons of sediment into delicate lines behind them. Their movement becomes mark-making — strokes and curves traced by feet and wings. In this brief alignment of light, behavior, and shifting sediment, nature creates its own calligraphy. Bronze Award in the Pattern & Form Category at the Professional level. Honorable Mention in the Aerial Category at the Professional level.
#5
“Croc 3 Point Stance” By Rick Beldegreen
Description: This American crocodile was photographed in Banco Chinchorro, Mexico, located 25 miles off the SE tip of Mexico in the Caribbean. Honorable Mention in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
Underwater photography does the opposite. Instead of flattening the world into design, it wraps everything in atmosphere. Light doesn’t behave normally down there, but scatters, fades, and changes personality. Contrast can vanish in a few meters, details dissolve into haze, and suddenly the photograph becomes a negotiation between clarity and mystery.
#6
“Shadows Of The Pod” By Gerardo Del Villar
Description: “Two orcas travel side by side in the cold northern sea, their white patches glowing against the dark water. I waited quietly for the pair to line up, using black and white and a high ISO to embrace the grain and turn the moment into a simple study of shape, light, and family.” Honorable Mention in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level. Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Non-Professional level. Nominee in the Ocean Category at the Non-Professional level.
#7
“Going With The Flow” By Dirk Pendzialek
Honorable Mention in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
Even when the scene is calm, the water makes it feel suspended, like the whole world is holding its breath.
#8
“Mother & Child” By Zach Parker
Description: A baby Humpback Whale hitching a ride on its mother's nose. Silver Award in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#9
“Octopus Hug” By Xaime Beiro
Description: That exact moment when the sea wants to embrace you. Silver Award in the Underwater Category at the Professional level.
What’s especially satisfying about putting these two categories side by side is how different the challenge is, even when the goal is the same. In the air, you’re fighting scale and timing while trying to make something massive feel readable. Underwater, you’re fighting movement, visibility, and light itself. Either way, there’s no room for lazy composition.
#10
“Jellyfish Galaxy” By Carol May
Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#11
“Holy Waters” By Chris Gug
Description: The iconic Christ of the Abyss statue lies in ~30' of water off Key Largo. For decades, divers scrubbed it clean, but several years back, that became illegal, and set out for this shoot after several years of coral growth - not too much, not too little. Gold Award in the Underwater Category at the Professional level.
Taken together, the winners, nominees, and honorable mentions in these categories aren’t just “cool views,” they’re reminders that photography can still show us places we don’t naturally belong, and make them feel close enough to understand.
#12
“Shall We Dance” By Chris Gug
Description: “A mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) glides downward like a parachute after unexpectedly launching itself into the water column. After shooting it against the sand for the past 30 minutes, I had to rapidly adjust my exposure to aim into the sun.” Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Professional level.
#13
“Face To Face” By Gerardo Del Villar
Description: “Photographed in the deep waters off Isla Guadalupe, a great white shark approaches head-on, framed by striped pilot fish. I held position and waited for this direct encounter, using black and white to isolate its face in the dark water and reveal a calm, curious predator rather than a monster.” Honorable Mention in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#14
“The Shape Of Escape” By Holly Kirkland
Description: An aerial moment of a zebra herd in motion, carving temporary paths through dust and shadow. In black and white, their stripes and dust turn into pure pattern—an instinctive geometry, fleeting and wild. This is the shape of escape, photographed from a helicopter at appropriate distance. Kenya 2025. Nominee in the Aerial Category at the Professional level. Nominee in the Animals Category at the Professional level. Nominee in the Lights & Shadow Category at the Professional level.
#15
“Mobula Abstract” By Emily Krakoff
Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level. Nominee in the Ocean Category at the Non-Professional level.
#16
“Mouth Of The Wandering Ghost” By Antoine Scuiller
Honorable Mention in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#17
“A Drifter” By Theodore Nielsen
Description: A juvenile Green Sea Turtle captured in the shallows, grazing on seagrass. They are very far from home. Spotts Beach, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#18
“Between Worlds, The Eye That Remembers” By Antoine Scuiller
Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#19
“Wide Open” By Rick Beldegreen
Description: This American crocodile was photographed in Banco Chinchorro, Mexico, located 25 miles off the SE tip of Mexico in the Caribbean. Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#20
“Polka-Dotted” By Fabi Fregonesi
Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Non-Professional level. Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#21
“Swimming Around” By Fabi Fregonesi
Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#22
“Above Or Below” By Zach Parker
Description: “An image that I have flipped upside down, making it look as though this humpback whale is taking off from the surface of the water and into space.” Honorable Mention in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#23
“Eclipse” By Remuna Beca
Description: A shark silhouette transforms the sun into an underwater eclipse. Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Professional level.
#24
“Pingüino Papúa Visto Desde Otro Ángulo” By Gonzalo Bertolotto Quintana
Description: “During a summer afternoon in Fildes Bay, Antarctica, I spotted Gentoo penguins swimming around our ship. From nearly 40 meters up, I captured this penguin from a unique angle—almost like a drone shot, but taken only with my camera.” Silver Award in the Aerial Category at the Non-Professional level. Nominee in the Animals Category at the Non-Professional level.
#25
“Bonaire Baitball” By David Morton
Description: Schooling big eye mackerel taken in 100' of water off Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#26
“Silky” By Andrew Cummings
Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#27
“One Big Family” By Zach Parker
Description: A series of images of a mother Humpback Whale with her calf, accompanied by a male [working woman] in the Pristine waters of Tonga. Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#28
“The Road Of Serenity” By Yu Hsuan S
Silver Award – Aerial (Professional Category) Description: Captured in the high mountains of Taiwan, this image shows a winding road fading into the mist, where monochrome tones highlight the contrast between nature’s rough textures and the smooth curve of the asphalt. Silver Award in the Aerial Category at the Professional level.
#29
“Natron Drift” By Jaren Fernley
Description: In a lake too caustic for most life, flamingos flourish. Natron Drift captures their delicate presence across a stark, otherworldly landscape — a reminder of nature’s resilience in even the harshest environments. Bronze Award in the Aerial Category at the Professional level.
#30
“The Boss” By Catherine Holmes
Description: A large bull sealion protects his harem of females and pups in the marine biosphere reserve of Los Islotes , Mexico. Here, surrounded by baitfish, prolific in the safe haven of protection. Bronze Award in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#31
“The Dive” By Fabi Fregonesi
Gold Award in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level. Nominee in the Animals Category at the Non-Professional level.
#32
“Black Eagle” By Luca Tambella
Description: “I took this aerial picture in southern Iceland. The waves crashing on the black sand beach create the silhouette of an eagle thanks to the snow that had fallen the night before. It's certainly a never-before-seen situation, which makes this photo unique.” Gold Award in the Aerial Category at the Non-Professional level.
#33
“Heads Or Tails” By Jodi Frediani
Description: Three northern right whale dolphins bow ride our whale watch vessel. Unusually clear, flat seas provided a colorful palette to showcase these slender, sleek and streamlined cetaceans. Yet, even rendered in black and white, this [intimacy] provides a striking image of silver and coal. Bronze Award in the Underwater Category at the Professional level. Nominee in the Lights & Shadow Category at the Professional level.
#34
“Silent Altitudes” By Ricky Liew Kah Chun
Description: A monochrome journey from Dubai to Switzerland, passing over Türkiye with the quiet company of another aircraft. Cloud oceans, distant peaks, and shifting light reveal the hidden landscapes seen only from the sky. Nominee in the Aerial Category at the Professional level.
#35
“One Fine Morning” By Will Runk
Description: A pod of spinner dolphins surfaces and dives off the coast of West Oahu, HI. Honorable Mention in the Underwater Category at the Professional level. Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Professional level.
#36
“Thorny Headdress” By Richard Condlyffe
Description: “This image shows a Thorny Seahorse. I created this effect by back-lighting the subject and using a small amount of side light to further highlight its thorns. Taken in Anilao, Philippines.” Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Professional level.
#37
“Patterns” By Francesco Negri
Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#38
“Silent Geometry” By Balazs Fodor
Description: A minimalist exploration of marine life reduced to pure form. Sharks, a crocodile, and a whale calf emerge from darkness as sculptural shapes, revealing the silent geometry, grace, and primal presence of predators and giants beneath the surface. Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Non-Professional level. Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#39
“Genesis Of The Mist” By Alex Aldaco
Description: A layer of fog drifts across the mountain slopes, revealing shifting contours of land and the quiet rhythm of the earth beneath. Nominee in the Aerial Category at the Professional level
#40
“City Lines From Above” By Saleh Alshamali
Description: A black and white aerial view of Kuwait City, where modern skyscrapers rise behind geometric lines of the seafront. The play of light and shadow emphasizes the city’s rhythm, merging architecture, patterns, and contrast in a timeless perspective. Honorable Mention in the Aerial Category at the Professional level. Honorable Mention in the Land Category at the Professional level.
#41
“Oceanic Megafauna” By Lisa Skelton
Description: Intelligent, charismatic and inspiring. Each of these species are keystones of their ocean ecosystems- their presence, numbers and movements revealing changes in our environment. Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#42
“Float Ensemble” By Ronja Arnold
Bronze Award in the Aerial Category at the Non-Professional level.
#44
“Octopus In Black” By Pamela Fischer
Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
#45
“Circle Of Calm” By Peter Hutchins
Description: Two green sea turtles glide through the dim water, tracing slow arcs around each other in a quiet exchange. One tucks a flipper close to its body, a gesture that may reduce its profile rather than signal submission. Their meeting captures the calm rhythm of Cabbage Tree Bay. Honorable Mention in the Animals Category at the Non-Professional level. Nominee in the Underwater Category at the Non-Professional level.
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